Okay I read that you shouldn't cook tomatoes in cast iron because it
could become poisonous. This can't be true can it? I just bought a
13-¼ inch skillet and a 10-¼ inch fryer from Lodge. Should I set
these two up for specific reasons only? The skillet just for searing
and the fryer just for frying or would it be okay to say cook sauces
in either? Any tips regarding Cast Iron would be appreciated also.

(Vince Poroke) writes:

>Okay I read that you shouldn't cook tomatoes in cast iron because it
>could become poisonous.

WHERE'D YOU READ SUCH TRIPE?
Won't become poisonous but the acetic tomatoes will remove the pot's seasoning
and probably give your sauce a burned and metalic taste... not poison at all...
but won't taste very good unless your taste is in your ass.

>This can't be true can it? I just bought a
>13-¼ inch skillet and a 10-¼ inch fryer from Lodge. Should I set
>these two up for specific reasons only? The skillet just for searing
>and the fryer just for frying or would it be okay to say cook sauces
>in either? Any tips regarding Cast Iron would be appreciated also.

Unless it's hillybilly cooking you shouldn't be cooking any kinda sauce in cast
iron... too slow to respond to temp change (even if removed from heat) so more
chance of burning... nothing tastes worse than scorched tomato sauce.



---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

On 06 Oct 2003 22:38:30 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:

(Vince Poroke) writes:
>
>>Okay I read that you shouldn't cook tomatoes in cast iron because it
>>could become poisonous.
>
>WHERE'D YOU READ SUCH TRIPE?
>Won't become poisonous but the acetic tomatoes will remove the pot's seasoning
>and probably give your sauce a burned and metalic taste... not poison at all...
>but won't taste very good unless your taste is in your ass.
>
>>This can't be true can it? I just bought a
>>13-¼ inch skillet and a 10-¼ inch fryer from Lodge. Should I set
>>these two up for specific reasons only? The skillet just for searing
>>and the fryer just for frying or would it be okay to say cook sauces
>>in either? Any tips regarding Cast Iron would be appreciated also.
>
>Unless it's hillybilly cooking you shouldn't be cooking any kinda sauce in cast
>iron... too slow to respond to temp change (even if removed from heat) so more
>chance of burning... nothing tastes worse than scorched tomato sauce.

I personally don't cook acidic foods in my cast iron since it'll thin
the seasoning right out.

There is one concern for cooking tomatoes or other acid foods in cast
iron and that is the amount of iron it picks up from the pan. For
many women who are chronically anemic that iron is a good thing. For
many men who may actually have too much iron in their blood already it
can lead to long term problems. Unless the pan has been used to cast
lead or something I can't think of any other way that cooking acidic
foods in cast iron would be toxic.

......Alan.




Post no bills

"A.T. Hagan" wrote:

>
> I personally don't cook acidic foods in my cast iron since it'll thin
> the seasoning right out.

My pans look great, and spaget sauce is what I *mostly* cook in them. I rinse them
quickly, wiping out the crude, use not soap (maybe a little salt), wipe the surface
with 2 drops of oil and put back on the burner it came off of, and let the warmth
dry it completely.

> There is one concern for cooking tomatoes or other acid foods in cast
> iron and that is the amount of iron it picks up from the pan. For
> many women who are chronically anemic that iron is a good thing. For
> many men who may actually have too much iron in their blood already it
> can lead to long term problems.

Iron is (pardon the pun) bloody hard to absorb. Unless someone has hemochromatosis,
do you have any references on iron being bad for men? Since most (pardon my pun)
red-blooded American men eat meat, do you believe sauce cooked in cast iron is more
likely to "iron overload" men? I am not flaming you, but sincerely interested.
blacksalt
female veggie (not chronically anemic) with veggie toddler, with a profession
interest in iron and iron deficiency

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 09:23:57 -0700, kalanamak >
wrote:

>
>
>"A.T. Hagan" wrote:
>
>>
>> I personally don't cook acidic foods in my cast iron since it'll thin
>> the seasoning right out.
>
>My pans look great, and spaget sauce is what I *mostly* cook in them. I rinse them
>quickly, wiping out the crude, use not soap (maybe a little salt), wipe the surface
>with 2 drops of oil and put back on the burner it came off of, and let the warmth
>dry it completely.

Well, yes. You're reoiling it after every use so the seasoning
doesn't thin out. I'm gradually doing the same myself since I now
seldom fry anything.

>> There is one concern for cooking tomatoes or other acid foods in cast
>> iron and that is the amount of iron it picks up from the pan. For
>> many women who are chronically anemic that iron is a good thing. For
>> many men who may actually have too much iron in their blood already it
>> can lead to long term problems.
>
>Iron is (pardon the pun) bloody hard to absorb. Unless someone has hemochromatosis,
>do you have any references on iron being bad for men? Since most (pardon my pun)
>red-blooded American men eat meat, do you believe sauce cooked in cast iron is more
>likely to "iron overload" men? I am not flaming you, but sincerely interested.
>blacksalt

Can't point you to a online reference. That info came from a
discussion with my doctor as she was telling me my iron count was high
and suggested I not take multivitamins with added iron. I went back
to donating blood and that problem went away.

......Alan.


Post no bills

kalanamak > wrote in message >...
> "A.T. Hagan" wrote:
>
> >
> > I personally don't cook acidic foods in my cast iron since it'll thin
> > the seasoning right out.
>
> My pans look great, and spaget sauce is what I *mostly* cook in them. I rinse them
> quickly, wiping out the crude, use not soap (maybe a little salt), wipe the surface
> with 2 drops of oil and put back on the burner it came off of, and let the warmth
> dry it completely.
>
> > There is one concern for cooking tomatoes or other acid foods in cast
> > iron and that is the amount of iron it picks up from the pan. For
> > many women who are chronically anemic that iron is a good thing. For
> > many men who may actually have too much iron in their blood already it
> > can lead to long term problems.
>
> Iron is (pardon the pun) bloody hard to absorb. Unless someone has hemochromatosis,
> do you have any references on iron being bad for men? Since most (pardon my pun)
> red-blooded American men eat meat, do you believe sauce cooked in cast iron is more
> likely to "iron overload" men? I am not flaming you, but sincerely interested.
> blacksalt
> female veggie (not chronically anemic) with veggie toddler, with a profession
> interest in iron and iron deficiency



SO I can cook anything I want in these pans? Basically just treat
them like I would my others but keeping in mind the maintance care for
them. I am really looking forward to this. There is a resaurant in
my area that only uses cast iron for every thing. They are always
busy and tops the lists in our area. The EC is the one that got me on
this cast iron kick.

(Vince Poroke) wrote in message . com>...
> kalanamak > wrote in message >...
> > "A.T. Hagan" wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > I personally don't cook acidic foods in my cast iron since it'll thin
> > > the seasoning right out.
> >
> > My pans look great, and spaget sauce is what I *mostly* cook in them. I rinse them
> > quickly, wiping out the crude, use not soap (maybe a little salt), wipe the surface
> > with 2 drops of oil and put back on the burner it came off of, and let the warmth
> > dry it completely.
> >
> > > There is one concern for cooking tomatoes or other acid foods in cast
> > > iron and that is the amount of iron it picks up from the pan. For
> > > many women who are chronically anemic that iron is a good thing. For
> > > many men who may actually have too much iron in their blood already it
> > > can lead to long term problems.
> >
> > Iron is (pardon the pun) bloody hard to absorb. Unless someone has hemochromatosis,
> > do you have any references on iron being bad for men? Since most (pardon my pun)
> > red-blooded American men eat meat, do you believe sauce cooked in cast iron is more
> > likely to "iron overload" men? I am not flaming you, but sincerely interested.
> > blacksalt
> > female veggie (not chronically anemic) with veggie toddler, with a profession
> > interest in iron and iron deficiency
>
>
>
> SO I can cook anything I want in these pans? Basically just treat
> them like I would my others but keeping in mind the maintance care for
> them. I am really looking forward to this. There is a resaurant in
> my area that only uses cast iron for every thing. They are always
> busy and tops the lists in our area. The EC is the one that got me on
> this cast iron kick.

I cook nearly everything in cast iron... It's not been practical to
boil water in it so far, I use a stainless stock pot for that, for
things like pasta, steaming veggies and hard boiling eggs.
I have had a lot of problems cooking in stainless steel with scorching
anything other than water.
For some reason, I DON'T have that problem with cast iron! It seems to
distribute the heat more evenly for me.

I even roast in them. :-)

I will NEVER cook in Aluminum. You want to talk about a toxic and
reactive metal. :-P

Sorry, but my experience with cooking italian in cast iron has been
just fine. My iron levels stay well in normal range too, and I don't
have the problem with anemia that SO many women in my area do! I am
the Hematology supervisor at my lab, so I get to see a lot of blood
counts... ;-)

I've only seen 2 cases of polycythemia in 10 years, and that's not
necessarily related to iron overload.

There is, however, concerns that too much iron in the diet can
increase the risk of heart disease, but I suspect that may be caused
more by over indulgence in iron supplements unless you have an
underlying iron storage disease.

If you are really worried about it, donate blood regularly, every 3
months. There is a critical blood shortage in the Austin/San Antonio
area right now. They held an emergency blood drive at our hospital
today. The workload was too high for me to be able to go, darnit! :-(
Human resources was offering PPL hours equivalent to a day off for
most people for donating. :-)

As for an "off" flavor from iron leeching due to the acid? I don't
think so. Just don't scorch it!

C.

(Vince Poroke) wrote in message . com>...
> kalanamak > wrote in message >...
> > "A.T. Hagan" wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > I personally don't cook acidic foods in my cast iron since it'll thin
> > > the seasoning right out.
> >
> > My pans look great, and spaget sauce is what I *mostly* cook in them. I rinse them
> > quickly, wiping out the crude, use not soap (maybe a little salt), wipe the surface
> > with 2 drops of oil and put back on the burner it came off of, and let the warmth
> > dry it completely.
> >
> > > There is one concern for cooking tomatoes or other acid foods in cast
> > > iron and that is the amount of iron it picks up from the pan. For
> > > many women who are chronically anemic that iron is a good thing. For
> > > many men who may actually have too much iron in their blood already it
> > > can lead to long term problems.
> >
> > Iron is (pardon the pun) bloody hard to absorb. Unless someone has hemochromatosis,
> > do you have any references on iron being bad for men? Since most (pardon my pun)
> > red-blooded American men eat meat, do you believe sauce cooked in cast iron is more
> > likely to "iron overload" men? I am not flaming you, but sincerely interested.
> > blacksalt
> > female veggie (not chronically anemic) with veggie toddler, with a profession
> > interest in iron and iron deficiency
>
>
>
> SO I can cook anything I want in these pans? Basically just treat
> them like I would my others but keeping in mind the maintance care for
> them. I am really looking forward to this. There is a resaurant in
> my area that only uses cast iron for every thing. They are always
> busy and tops the lists in our area. The EC is the one that got me on
> this cast iron kick.

I cook nearly everything in cast iron... It's not been practical to
boil water in it so far, I use a stainless stock pot for that, for
things like pasta, steaming veggies and hard boiling eggs.
I have had a lot of problems cooking in stainless steel with scorching
anything other than water.
For some reason, I DON'T have that problem with cast iron! It seems to
distribute the heat more evenly for me.

I even roast in them. :-)

I will NEVER cook in Aluminum. You want to talk about a toxic and
reactive metal. :-P

Sorry, but my experience with cooking italian in cast iron has been
just fine. My iron levels stay well in normal range too, and I don't
have the problem with anemia that SO many women in my area do! I am
the Hematology supervisor at my lab, so I get to see a lot of blood
counts... ;-)

I've only seen 2 cases of polycythemia in 10 years, and that's not
necessarily related to iron overload.

There is, however, concerns that too much iron in the diet can
increase the risk of heart disease, but I suspect that may be caused
more by over indulgence in iron supplements unless you have an
underlying iron storage disease.

If you are really worried about it, donate blood regularly, every 3
months. There is a critical blood shortage in the Austin/San Antonio
area right now. They held an emergency blood drive at our hospital
today. The workload was too high for me to be able to go, darnit! :-(
Human resources was offering PPL hours equivalent to a day off for
most people for donating. :-)

As for an "off" flavor from iron leeching due to the acid? I don't
think so. Just don't scorch it!

C.

On 7 Oct 2003 14:46:27 -0700, (Vince Poroke)
wrote:

>SO I can cook anything I want in these pans? Basically just treat
>them like I would my others but keeping in mind the maintance care for
>them. I am really looking forward to this. There is a resaurant in
>my area that only uses cast iron for every thing. They are always
>busy and tops the lists in our area. The EC is the one that got me on
>this cast iron kick.

So long as you're willing to refresh the seasoning you can cook
anything you want in cast iron.

I've got about 250 lbs of the stuff from muffin 'tins' to pots, to
frying pans to several Dutch Ovens. I've cooked about everything one
can cook in them. Over time though there's a number of things I don't
cook in them anymore because other metals like my stainless steel
cookware suit me more.

For what it's worth I've cooked more spaghetti sauce and chili in cast
iron than in any other type of pot, but gradually I've decided I like
cooking those in stainless steel better so I don't have to refresh the
seasoning so often. Can't say that it's affected the flavor one way
or the other.

It's the skill of the cook more than the pots he uses that determines
results.

......Alan.


Post no bills

kalanamak wrote:

> Iron is (pardon the pun) bloody hard to absorb. Unless someone has hemochromatosis,
> do you have any references on iron being bad for men?


http://www.wellfx.com/InfoBase/Iron.html

High amounts of iron have been found in the brains of people afflicted
with Parkinson's disease, and it could disrupt the central nervous
system enough to aggravate, if not cause, mental disorders.

Excess iron is implicated in other diseases, too. It could accumulate to
a toxic extent in our organs and tissues, including the joints, the
liver, the gonads, and the heart. It could feed the growth of harmful
bacteria and malignant tumor cells, as well as stimulate additional
cancer-promoting free radical activity.

Jukka Salonen, M.D., a Finish heart researcher, established that LDL
cholesterol becomes an artery-blocking danger only when it oxidizes and
that men with high concentration of iron (or copper) in their bodies are
at a particularly grave risk.

Swedish research confirms that iron-fortified flour can more than triple
the incidence of primary liver cancer and multiply by more than ten
times the incidence of hemochromatosis, in which the intestines absorb
more iron than the body needs.

Copper, cobalt, manganese, and vitamin C are necessary to assimilate
iron. Iron is necessary for proper metabolization of B vitamins.

levelwave wrote:

> High amounts of iron have been found in the brains of people afflicted
> with Parkinson's disease, and it could disrupt the central nervous
> system enough to aggravate, if not cause, mental disorders.

The same thing has been said about aluminum and alzheimers. However
because two things occur simultaneously does not necessarily mean one
causes the other.

Classic false cause fallacy.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

levelwave > wrote:

> High amounts of iron have been found in the brains of people afflicted
> with Parkinson's disease, and it could disrupt the central nervous
> system enough to aggravate, if not cause, mental disorders.

Correlation is not causation.

(Vince Poroke) wrote in message . com>...
> Okay I read that you shouldn't cook tomatoes in cast iron because it
> could become poisonous. This can't be true can it? I just bought a
> 13-* inch skillet and a 10-* inch fryer from Lodge. Should I set
> these two up for specific reasons only? The skillet just for searing
> and the fryer just for frying or would it be okay to say cook sauces
> in either? Any tips regarding Cast Iron would be appreciated also.

Don't cook acidic foods in ALUMINUM!

I cook tomatoe and lemon dishes in cast iron all the time
and I'm still here. ;-) My cast iron dutch oven is wunderful
for making tomatoe based sauces.

C.

(Carnivore269) wrote in message . com>...
> (Vince Poroke) wrote in message . com>...
> > Okay I read that you shouldn't cook tomatoes in cast iron because it
> > could become poisonous. This can't be true can it? I just bought a
> > 13-* inch skillet and a 10-* inch fryer from Lodge. Should I set
> > these two up for specific reasons only? The skillet just for searing
> > and the fryer just for frying or would it be okay to say cook sauces
> > in either? Any tips regarding Cast Iron would be appreciated also.
>
> Don't cook acidic foods in ALUMINUM!
>
> I cook tomatoe and lemon dishes in cast iron all the time
> and I'm still here. ;-) My cast iron dutch oven is wunderful
> for making tomatoe based sauces.
>
> C.


Thank you. I am buying a cast iron dutch oven today.

(Vince Poroke) wrote in message . com>...
> Okay I read that you shouldn't cook tomatoes in cast iron because it
> could become poisonous. This can't be true can it? I just bought a
> 13-¼ inch skillet and a 10-¼ inch fryer from Lodge. Should I set
> these two up for specific reasons only? The skillet just for searing
> and the fryer just for frying or would it be okay to say cook sauces
> in either? Any tips regarding Cast Iron would be appreciated also.

Cast Iron is not sealed against reacting with acid foods (especially
when cooked for long times.) So the acid will react with the iron.

Iron in your food is not poisonous (at least in small doses.) But the
flavor would probably be off.

You can make braises and stews and such in your fryer (if it's deep
enough) but nothing with much acid in it. You could probably get away
with a little wine.

Greg Zywicki